'We've learnt how to be local': the deepening territorial embeddedness of Samsung-Tesco in South Korea

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to the growing economic-geographical literature on the globalization of retailing by offering a longitudinal analysis of the operations of Samsung-Tesco in South Korea. More specifically, it endeavours to explain how Samsung-Tesco has rapidly become one of South Korea's most successful retailers since Tesco's market entry in 1999. The analysis mobilizes the notions of territorial embeddedness and strategic localization to unpack how Samsung-Tesco has secured sustained growth through progressively deepening its connections with the host economy and society in different ways. In broader theoretical terms, the study provides rich illustration of transnational corporation post-entry dynamics in host retail markets, demonstrating that strategic localization is not a static phenomenon, but a dynamic set of processes that evolve through time and in relation to the changing competitive conditions in the host market concerned.